Texas Civil Rights Review

Author: mopress

  • Archive: Hands Across El Rio

    The following item was previously posted in the announcements section of the Texas Civil Rights Review.–gm

    A 1,250 mile, 16 day protest against the border wall
    August 25 through September 9
    BorderAmbassadors.Com

    featuring
    Hands Across the Progreso International Bridge
    Saturday, Sept. 8
    9am – Noon

    “Come show your disdain
    Against the wall of shame,
    It puts us to blame
    But it won’t solve a thang”

    Live traditional guitar music- 9 am
    “Smash the Wall”
    Pinata party-9:30 am
    “Hands across the Rio”
    Ceremony on the bridge-10 am
    “ Fiesta by the Bordos”
    D.J.- Del Barrio -11 am – 12 pm

    Sponsors:

    Weslaco League for Human Rights-1 956 373 2381-970 0604

    L.U.P.E.-1 956 565 2761

    C.A.I.R. 292 1668
    Freedom Ambassadors
    South Texas College-Govt. Dept. 956 245 2552

  • “Stars and Stripes” Forever

    By Ralph Isenberg

    (Sept. 6, 2007) Tonight I talked to Ayman in Jordan. While his trip to the United States Embassy did not produce the results we would have liked, Ayman was allowed to enter as if he was a United States Citizen because he had his two sisters with him.

    “It really felt good” he said. He continued “for a few minutes I felt like I was home where I belonged.”

    The above may seem too small to report. To Ayman the moments he spent in the embassy (considered to be sovereign soil of the United States) was very important. Being there was important enough to get Ayman through another day.

    One day Ayman, you and your family will once again be on the sane soil I call home for it is your home also. It is not a matter of “if” but “when.”

    Make sure your family understands this and if possible I would like to suggest that the family once a week walk together past the embassy and look at the “stars and stripes.” These are the colors of your home.

    Ayman Suleiman at work in the USA before deportation to Jordan

    Ayman Suleiman, American worker

  • Albanian Attention to Texas Immigrant Increases Fears of Deportation

    By Greg Moses

    On Sept. 5, an obscure Texas immigration case became a front-page item for the government-friendly Albanian newspaper Korreiri, raising new fears that if Texas immigration authorities deported an Albanian refugee, he would be in danger for his life.

    News of the case entered cyberspace on Sept. 4 when the Texas Civil Rights Review published a plea from Dallas immigration attorney John Wheat Gibson in behalf of his client Rrustem Neza.

    Neza had been taken to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport during the previous week for deportatoin, explained Gibson, “but he pleaded for his life so loudly that airline officials would not let him board the plane.” Gibson sought further attention to the case in hopes of preventing another deportation attempt.

    According to another Dallas immigration activist, immigration authorities would usually attempt a second deportation in about ten days. If a subject’s actions once again prevented deportation, procedures would usually involve drugging the subject for a third trip.

    Gibson’s appeal from Texas on Sept. 4 became front page news in Albania on Sept. 5, resulting in heightened fears among Reza’s family and friends that deportation would be a life-threatening maneuver.

    After talking to Gibson on Sept. 7, Dallas immigration activist Ralph Isenberg sent a note to the Dallas immigration office with a copy of the newspaper clip. The note was addressed to the Dallas office lead counsel, Paul Hunker, and was delivered via email and courrier:

    Dear Paul,

    Based on information I have been provided (see enclosed) if Rrustem Neza is deported he will in all likelihood be executed shortly after arriving in Albania. While I understand you have no legal authority in this matter you do nevertheless have great influence over what Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) in Dallas does. I am asking that you please for the sake of a human life advice ICE to use the discretion they have and not deport Mr. Neza. New information has come to light regarding his case which belongs in a court of law. As a sidebar, I also understand that the parents of Mr. Neza fled Albania under threat of death once the Dallas deportation story broke on every newspaper and television station in Albania. It is my understanding that this information will be certified by an affidavit no later than Monday, September 10, 2007. Thank you for looking into this matter for me. When an opportunity arises to save a life, we as humans must act in the positive.

    Sincerely,

    Ralph Isenberg

    Speaking by telephone about Friday’s note, Isenberg explained to the Texas Civil Rights Review that the Dallas office has the right to exercise discretion over Neza’s fate.

    ”The man is frightened out of his mind,” said Isenberg. “A credible fear is not what the receiving country is perceiving. It’s what the person who’s being deported is perceiving.”

    As Gibson’s note of Sept. 4 explains, the fear on Neza’s part originates from information that he claims to have about a political assassination in Albania.

    ”In a way there’s only a very little about what’s going on in Albania that’s relevant,” explains Isenberg. “All this young man needs to show is grounds for a legitimate and credible fear.”

    At last report, Neza was being held at the Rolling Plains prison of Haskell, Texas, where he has been for the past eight months.

    Korrieri Sept. 5, 2007

    Korrieri, Sept. 5, 2007

  • Update on Ramsey

    Dear Friends:
    This note contains current information on the condition of Ramsey Muniz. He remains ill, and is fighting two kinds of bacteria. One bacteria causes liquid to surround his stomach area, and the other has infected his blood. He is improving, but the progress is slow. Below is a synopsis of his progress:

    Friday, September 2: I visit Ramsey from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM. They run several procedures, including hemodialysis to filter his blood, as it is infected with E.Coli. They drain liters of bile from the abdomen area through a procedures called paracentesis. Ramsey is out of character, because of the medication administered. He is very irritated,and pulls out a tube from his nose that is used to suction liquid from his stomach. The doctor decides to leave the tube off, and monitors for liquid buildup.

    I receive a call from the doctor in the evening. He informs me that the leakage has ceased.

    Saturday, September 3: Ramsey undergoes hemodialysis for approximately 4 hours. He also undergoes other procedures and remains heavily sedated. He hardly speaks.

    Sunday, September 4: Ramsey speaks, though conversations are brief. I do most of the talking. He informs me that the doctor has visited him and says that he is improving. His face indeed shows improvement, and I have a renewed sense of hope in his recovery. His face reflects amazement and disbelief about what he has experienced.

    Monday, September 5: Ramsey undergoes hemodialysis for approximately 3 hours. This difficult procedure leaves him weak and sedated.

    Tuesday, September 6: His abdominal area is again drained through the procedure called paracentesis. Three liters are drained, and he is later seen by the doctor who says that a lot of fluid still remains around his abdomen.

    Because he has not undergone hemodialysis, he more alert, and converses a little.

    His condition is as follows: Fluid around the abdomen. The fluid has yeast, and it is being treated with an antibiotic that fights yeast. He is also being give arimaxin, a general antibiotic.

    Wednesday, September 7: He undergoes hemodialysis for approximately 2 hours. He remains weak, but converses a little.

    Our sincerest gratitude goes to all who have expressed compassion, love, and concern, and more importantly to those who pray on behalf of my husband.

    Irma Muniz
     
    freeramsey.com

    received via email Sept. 8, 2005

  • Dr. Asma Salam's Call for Prayer in the Matter of the Holy Land Foundation Trial

    Assalamu Alaikum,

    I strongly believe in the power of prayer as God has himself said that no evil can touch us with out His will and no one can harm whom He wants to save. Why sometimes evil surround us is not a mystery. I think it is God’s way of testing our strength and love for Him. These tests, trials and tribulations increase the depth of our soul and are just a next step towards Heaven. God is most forgiving and most merciful, He forgive us if we truly asks His help and guidance through prayers as God has said that “Ask Me and you will get whatever you seek.”

    I also believe in the power of congregational prayers, as it unites community and align our souls for a good cause. Is it possible that you ask Imams of most if not all mosques in DFW and other cities to have a special prayer during Khutba or after Khutba before Juma prayer for HLF brothers starting this Juma and continuing on other Jumas in Ramadan so that God forgive them, and forgive us and all Muslim community. This is a very critical time for all of us and not for them only. I wish we all pray together and remember the power of unity as God mentioned to hold on to the rope with strength and not to be divided, ” Wa atasamu bi hablillah e jamian wala tafaraqu.”

    My prayers are with these brothers and their families. May God have mercy on them and on us. Amen.

    Best regards
    asma
    Asma Salam, MD